Asbestos table-mat



G. R. HEALEY.

ASBESTOS TABLE MAT. APPLICATION men FEB. 25. I920.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

GE E HEALEY 6/ 4 2M ditgazzgu GEORGE B. KELLEY, OF LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA.

ASBESTOS TABLE-HAT.

Speciflcati on 0! Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

Application fled February 26, 1920. Serial No. 361,345.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. HEALEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Asbestos Table-Mats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a protecting cover for dining tables or thelike and has for its ob'ect to provide an extensible protecting ta lemat, and the invention consists of the construction and details, anbodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing anddescribed and claimed herein.

Figure 1 is a plan view of improved mat, parts being assembled andpartly assembled for use.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an end of the mat partly broken away to showdetails of construction.

Fig. 3 is a tranverse section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the intermediate extension leaf partly brokenaway.

The improve table mat is shown as comprising a suitable number ofsections which in the present case include semi-circular end sections 2adapted for use on a circular table, but it is understood that thesections may be of any desired contour or shape in plan. End sections 2are disconnected from each other and form complete and reversible andinterchangeable umts which may be arranged with their diametrical edgestogether to form a complete circle to form a circular mat when a diningtable is contracted to the circular form. If it be desired to use themat on an extension table, then the end mat units 22 are obviouslyseparated and one or more intermediate extension leaves, of which one isindicated at 3, are introduced between the diametrical ed es of the endunits.

The several sections or unit members preferably comprise an outer clothor other suitable covering sheet on u per and lower faces, as indicatedat 4, this coverin sheet inclosing an inner body structure, pre erablyof asbestos or some good non-conducting material, and in this case theinner body is shown as com rising a lurality of layers of asbestos boarindicated at 4' and 5. These boards may be of any desired width andlength but for the purpose of enabling the compact foldin of the entiremat into small compass for t e conservation of storage space, the innerbody boards are of such len 11 and width as to enable the units to befol ed along suitable lines such as indicated at 6 in the several views.Each of the subdivisions of a unit has the outer margins of itssuperposed boards 45 connected by a selvage or strip 7 of clothpreferably cut on the bias as indicated 1n the drawing so that theselvage strip or binding may be laid around the curved edges of theseveral units without crinkling. The binding selvage or strip may bestitched as along the lines of stitching indicated at 8. This leaves theboards 4-5 of each sub-division otherwise free between their adjacentsurfaces and the parallel edges of difi'erent sub-divisions of a unitare foldably connected together so that one sub-division can be foldedover the other along the lines 6. An effective means for connectingcontiguous edges of folding subsections may, and preferably does,comprise short elastic transverse strlps 9, a number of which may beplaced at desired spaces along contiguous edges as clearly shown in Fig.2 and serve therefore as hinges to connect but lpermit the folding ofthe sub-sections of t e unit. By forming the hinge or connecting members9 of the elastic material they not only permit the ready folding ofsub-sections one over the other but they also serve to draw thecontiguous edges closely together when the units are arranged in an openposition in a plane.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invtion as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a protecting mat for tables, a unit having substantially rigidsubsections, each of which comprises a plurality of layers of relativelythin stiflt' material, elastic hinges connecting the adjacent edges ofthe subsections to permit the same to be folded, one over the other, theend portions of said elastic hinges being positioned between the sheetsof material forming said subsections, and binding strips covering theouter edges of said subsections.

2. In a protecting mat for tables, a unit having substantially rigidsubsections. each of which comprises a plurality of layers of relativelythin stiff material, elastic hinges connecting the adjacent edges of thesub sections to permit the same to be folded one over the other, the endportions of said elastic hinges being positioned between the sheets ofmaterial forming said subsections, binding strips covering the outeredges of said subsections, and a flexible sheet covering the entireunit.

In testimony Whereoi I have signed my name to this specification.

GEO. R. HEALEY.

